In
just the past several years, estimates of Antarctica’s melt rate,
translating to sea level rise, have gone from nearly zero to becoming
more significant and growing. Scientists most recently have found that
Western Antarctica is contributing approximately 10% to observed global
sea level rise, with one of Antarctica’s largest glaciers being a
significant source. In an effort to identify the causes and risks, a
team led by the British
Antarctic Survey sent an unmanned submarine
beneath Western Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier to measure ice melt in
terms of the ocean water’s salinity, temperature and oxygen
concentrations.
The submarine unexpectedly found that the
glacier was no longer connected to an underwater ridge that had been
slowing the flow of ice into the sea. Instead, warm sea water has been
entering the cavity created over the ridge and eroding the glacier from
below. The Pine Island Glacier is thus one of the continent’s fastest
melting and is thinning four times more quickly than it was 10 years
ago.
These findings confirmed concerns that this glacier is
actually a weak point in the region’s integrity, and that a real
collapse of the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet could add five meters to sea
level rise.
Our thanks, British Antarctic Survey and scientists,
for these factual though alarming observations of West Antarctica. Let
us all awaken to the importance of taking urgent steps to address our
vulnerable environment and restore the Earth’s balance. Ever concerned
for humanity’s welfare, Supreme Master Ching Hai has often spoken of
global warming’s threat to our survival while at the same time reminding
of how to avoid calamity, as during a November 2009 videoconference in
Washington, DC, USA.
Supreme Master Ching Hai:
The West Antarctic Ice Shelf is also melting, with 3.3 meter sea level
rises forecast that would threaten cities like your country, New York,
Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. And if all of Antarctica and
Greenland were to melt – meaning the ice – then the sea levels could
rise to as much as 70 meters, which would be deadly or disastrous to
most lives on Earth.
Supreme Master Ching Hai:
I pray day and night that the divine manifest in the physical realm and
wake up the leaders of our nations, wake up the religious heads, wake
up everybody in time so that they understand the urgency of our
situation, and that they understand the solution of solving this
dangerous crisis that is facing us.
That is, we have to turn
back to our caring and compassionate nature inside our heart. Being
vegan worldwide is the advancement of compassion that will uplift and
unify all cultures, and create a harmonious Eden on Earth.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10354118.stm http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE65H1C5.htmhttp://www.physorg.com/news196255601.html